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May 29, 2016 (BOR) - Authorities in the newly created Boma state, one of the controversial 28 states inhabited by South Sudan's Murle, Anyuak and Kachipo ethnic groups, have alarmed sharp increase in number of boys and girls dropping out of schools as they prepare to launch a total back to school campaign in June this year.

Boma State Education Minister, Simon Korton, speaking to Sudan Tribune from his office in Pibor on 24 May 2016 (ST Photo)

The state minister of education, Simon Korton Tulki, cited security as the major cause of the decrease in the pupils populations in schools this year, besides early and forced marriages which heavily accounts for low enrolments of girls in schools as well.

The culture of Murle ethnic community in Boma state, allowed girls to be married off as earlier as the age of 15, which resulted into low girls' enrolment in schools, according to the education minister, Simon Korton Tulki.

“This habit is what we are trying to preach about so that the people abandon it because when the girl is educated, she is better than uneducated girl. Underage marriages also affect the life of the girls because they are exposed to some hardships, which they cannot manage as housewives,” he added.

According to Murle culture, young men in the villages book girls at birth, even when they are days old, by paying some heads of cattle.

A designated traditional beads which is put around the neck of a small girl, indicates which age group the husband to be belongs to. Such girls don't go to school, as they fear of being regarded as ‘spoiled' by these communities which value virginity.

“In schools, you find the girls' up to primary six and then they drop out when they reach the age of 10 and above,” said the minister.

Out of 65 candidates who sat for secondary school exams in Boma state, only one was a girl. A lot more are dropping out before reaching primary seven. Young Murle men have also been busy roaming about in the wilderness looking for cows and kids to steal.

Attempts are being made by the state ministry of education to change this perception in people's minds across the state, but little has been achieved.

“We are trying our best, but it is very hard to be accepted. They had been practising it for centuries and they had never seen or felt the effect of it. Gradually, we will continue to preach it to the communities, and slowly they will accept it. Some individuals who are living near the town have already seen the benefit,” said Korton.

He said South Sudan would be a better place to live in if “we abandon the bad culture of early marriages so that our girls and boys go to schools to learn. Educated people can change the life of this community.”

The state governor, Baba Medan, also believed that only education would change the mindset of the Murle community from child abduction and early marriages to a productive one, free from crimes.

“If you want to build a good community, if you want to have future for this state, we must put our focus on education because education is the key for everything,” said Medan.

He had special message to the parents out there, advising them to put their children to schools.

“If you want to increase the number of your cattle you have, you bring your daughter to school. If a daughter is educated, you will get 200 heads of cattle or more when she gets married. She will also support you with her salaries. But the girls in the villages who are not educated, you only get 50 heads of cattle when she gets married and she cannot support you in any way,” he added.

Boys are also believed to be leaving schools when they are initiated at the age of 16 or above, and become raiders and child abductors, practices which the governor considered to be sinful.

“If young men are educated, they will not abduct other people's children or raid cattle from other communities. This way, peace will come to this place and we will be able to explore our natural resources nicely for the development,” said Medan.

(ST)

Les dernières infos • #réfugiésbalkans : de plus en plus de franchissements clandestins de la frontière entre la Serbie et la Hongrie
Réfugiés : la Roumanie s'oppose aux quotas de l'UE
Réfugiés : les cargos-poubelles de la mafia syrienne de Roumanie
La Roumanie, l'espace Schengen, les « barbares » et les « sauvages »

/ Roumanie, Migrants Balkans, Questions européennes, Courrier des Balkans, Populations, minorités et migrations

Croatie : le « recentrage » du HDZ, ou la stratégie du pompier pyromane
Croatie : une irrésistible dérive fasciste ?
Croatie : un nouveau gouvernement ouvert en grand à la droite extrême
Croatie : Zlatko Hasanbegović, un révisionniste pro-nazi au ministère de la Cutlure
Révolution conservatrice en Croatie : à droite toute !
Croatie : Ana Karamarko, la « consultante » par qui le scandale arrive

/ Courrier des Balkans, Croatie, Politique intérieure, Croatie droitisation

Croatie : le « recentrage » du HDZ, ou la stratégie du pompier pyromane
Croatie : une irrésistible dérive fasciste ?
Croatie : un nouveau gouvernement ouvert en grand à la droite extrême
Croatie : Zlatko Hasanbegović, un révisionniste pro-nazi au ministère de la Cutlure
Révolution conservatrice en Croatie : à droite toute !
Croatie : Ana Karamarko, la « consultante » par qui le scandale arrive

/ Courrier des Balkans, Croatie, Politique intérieure, Croatie droitisation

May 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Sunday have released a number of graduates of the University of Khartoum after nearly two months of detention without charge.

A student throws stones during a confrontation with the police outside the University of Khartoum on Wednesday April 13, 2016

Mohmed Farouk Suleiman, Murtada Habani, Ibrahim Abu Samra and Ahmed Zuhair have been released on Sunday. The four were detained last April after taking part in demonstrations to protest the relocation of the historical university to construct touristism and business buildings.

Amnesty International and Human Right Watch denounced the arbitrary detention of peaceful protesters and called to release them. Different reports said they their families and lawyers had no access, increasing risks of torture.

Dozens of students mostly from the University of Khartoum and activists are still in jail since last April.

Reports say the detainees are held at the NISS office near the Shendi bus station in Khartoum North. However it was also reported that some of them are being held in unrevealed locations.

The Sudanese authorities accuse the protesters of being connected to opposition and rebel groups, saying they seek to mobilise protests to bring down the regime of President Omer al-Bashir.

Minister of Justice Awad al Nur al-Hassan Sunday refused to comment on the detention without charge of the student and activists.

Also, Interior Minister Ismat Abdel Rahman distanced himself from the issue; saying they are arrested by the NISS which is directly attached to the Sudanese presidency.

Last Wednesday families of arrested students handed over a memorandum to the minister of higher education and the university's vice chancellor, calling for their immediate release.

The letter which is co-signed by the graduates' association and student lawyers, also called to cancel the dismissal of six students and the two-year suspension of for 11 other students accused to orchestrating the protests against the sale of the university building.

(ST)

Le tribunal spécial africain jugeant l'ex-président tchadien doit rendre son verdict lundi à Dakar. Il s'agit du premier procès dans lequel un ex-chef d'État est traduit devant une juridiction d'un autre pays pour crimes contre l'humanité.

A Romanian journalist is being sued by the Constitutional Court for calling its judges “villains” in a column.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov is likely to survive the opposition initiative to impeach him for his recent conduct - as the opposition and its allies lack the necessary support in parliament.

More than 50 companies from the Chinese region of Zhejiang are to meet with around 60 Croatian companies in Zagreb to 'explore new business activities'.

While Kosovo and EU officials have hailed the stability pact as a milestone, local producers fear a flood of cheap imports - and opposition MPs remain worried about the political implications.

Serbian neutrality rests on a delicate balance between East and West but an escalation in military cooperation with NATO runs counter to public opinion and risks upsetting Russia.

Tsenko Chokov, who has been running the village of Galiche like feudal lord for 20 years, has finally been charged with running a crime gang

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today welcomed the "historic" verdict of the special court in Senegal convicting the former President of Chad Hissène Habré of crimes against humanity, summary executions, torture and rape.

la photo détournée

(B2) L’image colle comme un gant avec le titre choisi par W Sieci pour illustrer la photo de Donald Tusk : « Il ne reviendra plus. Il a choisi le luxe de l’Union (européenne) ». Mais apparemment il s’agit plutôt d’un photomontage, peu digne du journalisme.

Un blogger Jozef Moneta (nom prédestiné !) a découvert le pot aux roses en détectant une photo semblable chez Getty. Un homme regarde à la fenêtre, dans un avion d’affaires, et verre de champagne à la main droite, avec en arrière plan la cabine de pilotage. A une différence près : celui-là est barbu, là où l’autre photo montre le président du Conseil européen. Elle s’inscrit d’ailleurs dans une série destinée à illustrer l’aviation d’affaires comme un lieu de luxe et de détente (voir une autre photo ici ou ici).

Ou comment donner utiliser des procédés plutôt douteux au service d’une attaque personnelle plutôt d’un mauvais goût.

May 29, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA/JUBA) – South Sudan's armed opposition has accused Ugandan troops of allegedly crossing back into South Sudan and redeploying inside the country this week in violation of the August 2015 peace agreement which demanded their withdrawal from the territories of the world's youngest and war-ravaged nation.

There are concerns that the ongoing presence of Ugandan troops, pictured here in Jonglei capital Bor, could further escalate the crisis in South Sudan and lead to regional conflict (Getty)

A senior military official of the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) under the leadership of the First Vice President, Riek Machar, said convoys of hundreds or thousands of forces of the Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF) were seen sneaking back into South Sudan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Ugandan troops have crossed the borders back into South Sudan. We don't know about their intention. This is a serious violation of the peace agreement. They were told to withdraw, and they did, then now why should they come back? To do what again?” the anonymous senior SPLA-IO military officer, who is also a member of the Joint Monitoring Ceasefire Committee (JMCC) that monitors implementation of the permanent ceasefire and security arrangements, told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

He further explained that the Ugandan forces have allegedly re-entered South Sudan through Parjok payam in Magwi county of Eastern Equatoria state, east of the national capital, Juba, and another convoy crossed the border through Paluar payam of Keji-Keji county of the newly created Yei state of Central Equatoria, south of Juba.

Eyewitnesses in Magwi county contacted by Sudan Tribune also confirmed seeing Ugandan forces crossing the border again back into South Sudan, five months after their withdrawal from the territories of the northern neighbor.

They however said the foreign troops claimed to be hunting for suspected Uganda's opposition forces being allegedly trained inside South Sudan.

The South Sudanese peace agreement brokered by the East African regional bloc, IGAD, and signed by top rival leaders, President Salva Kiir and opposition leader, Riek Machar, only allowed Ugandan troops based in Western Equatoria under the African Union (AU) mandate to continue hunting for rebels of the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) under the leadership of Joseph Kony.

The opposition's official of the SPLA-IO said the sudden and illegal redeployment of the UPDF inside South Sudan is a violation of the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty which he also said raised suspicion about their intention this time of peace.

He said the regional and international bodies, such as IGAD, AU and the United Nations (UN) should put pressure on Uganda to withdraw its forces and stop “meddling” in the internal affairs of South Sudan.

Before the civil war, UPDF crossed the border into South Sudan days before the 15 December 2013 crisis and eventually took part in the direct combat against the opposition forces of Machar in assisting President Kiir's forces.

When strategic Bor town, the state capital of Jonglei state was overrun and captured by the opposition forces in January 2014, three weeks after eruption of the war, it took the Ugandan troops to recapture it and took control of the town for almost two years.

Thousands of Ugandan forces backed by helicopter gunships, tanks and other armoured vehicles pushed back poorly armed opposition forces, mainly of armed young civilians from the Lou-Nuer community in Jonglei state.

The troops of the southern neighbour also provided much of the security for the capital, Juba, including the airport and protection of the top leadership in the capital during the 21 months of the civil war.

Uganda argued that it sent troops in order to avoid genocide from occurring in South Sudan.

But opposition faction of the SPLA-IO accused the UPDF of instead taking side in the internal war and prolonging it.

(ST)

May 29, 2016 (WAU) - The governor of South Sudan's Wau state, Elias Waya Nyipuoch has dismissed as untrue allegations that he has bad relationship with security organs.

Governor Elias Waya addressing people in Wau upon his arrival on January 12, 2016 (ST)

is response comes a week after the former Western Bahr el Ghazal state governor, Rizik Zackaria Hassan attributed the insecurity in Wau to what he described as the bad relationship between Governor Waya and the head of security organs in the state.

"I have all the newspapers, he [Rizik] kept saying that it is my bad relation with security organs that are killing people in Wau, why should security organs kill people if their relationship with me as a person is bad, why should they kill innocent people?" he asked.

“What is other interpretation to what he is saying? Is he really agitating the security organs against me as a person,” Waya further questioned.

The Wau state governor said it was unfair for his Lol state counterpart to blame him.

“What was that good that he was doing to the security organs? When I came on 14 January this year, during the first meeting that I held with the security committee, I was able to discover that already five people had died within this short period of time. The killing did not start with my coming, it was already a continuous things,” he stressed.

Waya said insecurity in Wau started since 2012 and that Rizik's administration knew this well.

“Am now wondering, what is that bad that I have done to the security organs that he kept talking about in all interviews in the media? Is he agitating the security organs to kill the civil population or he is now agitating the security organs to kill me”? he wondered.

Sudan Tribune was unable to get an immediate reaction from the Lol state Governor.

The US-based Human Rights Watch, in a report released last week, accused the South Sudanese army of killings, raping and abducting civilians in the country's state of Wau.

(ST)

May 29, 2016 (JUBA) – Emmanuel Jieng [Dinka] Parish church service erupted into violent protest on Sunday among its members, forcing the pastor in charge of the church to declare his resignation from the church leadership.

South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, calling for reconciliation and forgiveness at St. Thomas Parish, Juba, 29 May, 2016 (ST Photo)

Emmanuel Jieng [Dinka] church, located at Hai Cinema in the South Sudan's national capital, Juba, is predominantly of Dinka Bor membership.

Pastor Joseph Makeer Achiek, according to media reports and social media comments, resigned on Sunday, 29 May, after several protesters among his church members demanded his resignation from the church leadership for inviting the First Vice President, Riek Machar, to attend the ethnic Dinka Bor church last Sunday.

The appearance of Machar, a Nuer by ethnicity, where he preached peace and reconciliation among the people of South Sudan, stunned some of the church members who walked out in protest last week.

However, on Sunday, seven days later, some of the members decided to not allow the pastor in charge, who invited Machar last week, to continue leading the church, accusing him of inviting an enemy to the church.

Angry protesters, allegedly agitated by some politicians matched to the podium inside the Emmanuel Jieng Parish and interrupted the church secretary of information while announcing the routine weekly church reports on Sunday.

An eyewitness reportedly said an unidentified protester started the match to the podium with a banner banner bearing the names of Dinka army Generals who were killed by opposition forces of Machar during the 21 years of the civil war which ended in August 2015.

The names the protesters displayed inside the church for the members to see included late Gen. Kuol Malith Reech, late Gen. Abraham Jongroor Deng and late Gen. Ajak Yek Alier who were killed in the conflict between 2013 and 2014 while commanding government troops against Machar's forces.

When the church leadership attempted to stop the man from displaying the dead Generals, other protesters stoop up in support of his action. The situation forced majority of the members of the congregation to walk out, while others tried to calm down the situation.

Security personnel had to be called in by the church leaders and arrested the protesters.

While army generals and politicians who attended the church service remained seated, the church leadership tried to calm the situation to prevent people from leaving.

Pastor Achiek then decided to announce his resignation from leading the church leadership after seeing the unbelievable situation.

The row inside the Dinka church occurred last Sunday when the First Vice President, Machar, addressed the church, encouraging their members to preach peace and reconciliation among the people of the world's youngest country and to support the implementation of the peace agreement.

It was the fourth church in four weeks which Machar visited and shared prayers with since his return to Juba on 27 April, 2016.

On Sunday, May 29, Machar also visited a fifth church, St Thomas Parish of Munuki area, in his fifth Sunday in Juba, where he also called on the congregation to embrace reconciliation and forgiveness among the divided people of South Sudan.

His press secretary, James Gatdet Dak, said that he was welcomed at the church, predominantly of Equatorians.

“His [Machar's] message about reconciliation and forgiveness was well received by the members and leadership at St Thomas Parish,” Dak told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

(ST)

May 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Director for East Africa at the German Foreign Ministry Anke Feldhusen has renewed her country's keenness to convince the opposition holdout groups to join Sudan's national dialogue process.

The internal dialogue conference was inaugurated in Khartoum on October 10th, 2015 amid large boycott from the major political and armed opposition.

The national dialogue committees chaired by President Omer al-Bashir have finished works late February. The recommendations are waiting the approval of the General Assembly of the Secretariat General.

The visiting German diplomat on Sunday was briefed by the secretary general of the national dialogue Hashim Ali Salem on the latest developments of the dialogue conference.

In press statements following Feldhusen's meeting with Salem, German Ambassador to Khartoum Rolf Welberts said he is optimistic about the future of dialogue and peace in Sudan.

He underscored the rapid improvement of German-Sudanese relations, saying that Feldinsia was briefed by Salem on the outcome of the national dialogue conference.

Germany had signed a strategic partnership agreement with the AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) by the end of 2014 allowing it to work with the Sudanese parties to facilitate a process aiming to bring peace and achieve democratic transformation in the east African country.

Thanks to the German efforts, Sudanese opposition holdout groups, in a meeting held in Berlin last February, declared their readiness to participate the national dialogue preparatory meeting despite their previous reserves.

For his part, Salem said he briefed the visiting diplomat on the latest stages of the dialogue conference and the political parties, armed groups and national figures participating in it.

He pointed out that European countries became more interested in promoting relations with Sudan due to its important role in achieving security and stability in the region.

Officials from a number of European countries had recently visited the dialogue conference and were briefed by the secretary general on its latest developments.
They expressed their countries keenness to contact the opposition holdout groups to convince them to take part in the process.

Earlier this month, the British envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Matthew Cannell visited the dialogue conference and stressed his country's strong support for the dialogue and promised to lead efforts to convince the holdout opposition to join it.

Hold out opposition refuse to take part in the conference before the creation of a conducive environment and the implementation of specific confidence-building measures.

(ST)

May 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Leaders of Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) would arrive in Doha on Monday to discuss with the Qatari mediation the peace process in the region.

JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim (C) speaks at the opening session of Darfur negotiations flanked by SLM-MM leader Minni Minnawi in Addis Ababa on 23 November 2014 (Photo courtesy of AUHIP)

Last January, the Qatari Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud met in Paris with the leader of JEM Gibril Ibrahim and SLM-MM leader Minni Minnawi on their request to discuss their demand to open the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) for discussions.

The two sides agreed to continue their discussions in Doha late this month.

Earlier this month, Ibrahim told Sudan Tribune that they intend to ask Qatar for joining the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) led by Thabo Mbeki in order to have a united framework for negotiating a number of issues on Darfur and the comprehensive peace in Sudan.

However, the Sudanese presidency rejected the armed movements' proposal describing it as “an attempt to circumvent the (AUHIP-proposed) roadmap which was not signed by the two armed movements”.

In a press statement extended to Sudan Tribune Sunday, SLM-MM said a senior delegation from the movement headed by Minnawi would arrive in Doha Monday within the framework of the ongoing consultations with the Qatari mediation.

The statement pointed that the visit is part of the continued “consultations on the vision of JEM and SLM-MM on how to achieve a just and comprehensive solution that addresses the root causes of the Sudanese crises in general and in particular the Darfur issue and to unify the international [mediation] efforts and create an enabling climate to move forward the stalled peace process”.

It added that the government doesn't have a true will to achieve peace, saying the “comprehensive peace is a strategic choice that the SLM-MM wouldn't abandon and will seek to achieve by all means including negotiations to end the totalitarian regime, stop the war and build a state that is based on equal citizenship”.

“The regime speaks about peace while its warplanes kill children in Heiban and burns villages [in south Kordofan] and its militias carry out massacres in Darfur's peaceful villages such as the recent incident in Azirni in West Darfur” the statement read.

The SLM-MM renewed its commitment to support the Sudanese people demands to achieve the comprehensive peace, democracy and the state of law.

The Doha brokered the Darfur peace negotiations resulted in the signing of the DDPD by the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) in July 2011. JEM which had initiated the process rejected the deal.

The two groups have engaged in peace talks with the government under the auspices of the AUHIP. However, several rounds of talks between the two groups and the government in Addis Ababa have stalled and no progress on the pending issues was made.

JEM and SLM-MM call for opening the DDPD for negotiations, saying some issues were ignored or not fairly treated, but Khartoum rejects such request.

(ST)